My Past, My Present, My Future
by live2rite
Summary: December has arrived and with it Kate and Castle's first Christmas together.  Sequel to My Muse, My Inspiration, My Partner. Caskett
1. Chapter 1

A.N. Here's the sequel to My Muse, My Inspiration, My Partner. It is a little later than I had intended and will only be updated once everyday owing to the fact that I didn't get as much written this weekend like I had hoped also it probably won't be as long as the last one but I really hope you like it. Please note that I haven't taken much of season three into account ... just the first ep and I have taken some liberties with the timing but My Muse was set mid to late September for this to work :)

From Rite Rose Publishing.

My Past, My Present, My Future.

Chapter One – I'll Be Home For Christmas

It had been three months. Three months since the book launch and since Kate and Castle had finally got together. By some miracle they had managed to keep wind of their relationship from the press who had finally stopped camping outside of Castle's apartment four days after the launch. Castle still got questioned during every appearance about the true nature of their relationship or the truth behind the dedication but Castle always answered with the same response, which was also the truth so he wasn't even lying, he always said something along the lines of, "Detective Beckett is one of the most talented and beautiful people I have ever met, her friendship means everything to me," or "How lucky am I to have a partner with the NYPD who is such an inspiration and gave me such a fantastic idea for a character? She really is a great muse and such an awesome friend." He laughed off any attempts to link him with the alleged information in the papers by questioning the validity of any of the claims made. This mostly worked, there were a few occasions where it didn't at these times he joked that Detective Beckett would have to lose a bet for her to consider dating him.

Kate barely spent any evenings at her place any more. Although she didn't like to admit it because of her independent attitude she loved knowing that she would be going home every evening to Castle and little Castle. Martha had moved into her own little apartment a month ago after the success of her latest play and it was just a block away so she and Alexis spent a lot of time together still. Kate had told her Father that she was seeing Castle but that it was still early days and that they weren't telling many people other than close friends and family. Castle had asked several times to meet her Father but Kate kept coming up with excuses. It wasn't that she wanted to keep the two men apart, on the contrary she did want them to meet but she wanted to be secure in her relationship before this happened. She still had fleeting doubts that Castle would live up to his old playboy reputation and leave, as much as Castle tried to convince her otherwise, however with the Christmas fast approaching, she had been forced to plan their meeting as she and Castle would be cooking Christmas dinner at his loft. They had invited Martha and Jim along as well as Ryan and Jenny and Lanie and Esposito whose relationship had gone from strength to strength.

It was now Christmas Eve and Kate and Castle were sat at her desk whilst she finished writing up the paperwork on their most recent case. Castle smiled to himself as he thought about what he had planned for Christmas and his earlier conversation with Captain Montgomery.

"What's with the grin Castle?" Kate asked, barely looking up as she continued writing.

He quickly wiped the smile from his face and turned to look at her. "I have no idea what you're talking about Detective."

"Of course you don't." Kate said disbelievingly. She signed the sheet of paper she had just finished with, put the sheet in the file and placed it in the box. "There!" she exclaimed, "All done."

"Excellent" Castle said happily, standing up, "Does that mean we can leave now Beckett?" he went on to ask.

"You know Castle, you could have left earlier on today, I wouldn't have stopped you," she told him as she stood and grabbed her jacket, "You could have made a start on all that prep work for dinner tomorrow." She smirked. They both started walking to the elevator through the practically deserted homicide floor space. The majority of Detective's were off on vacation or if they were unlucky enough to be on call, were at home spending as much time with their families as possible, waiting for the inevitable call in.

"And make you miss out on my sparkling personality?" he said, looking shocked. "I wouldn't do that to you."

Kate rolled her eyes and they stepped into the elevator in silence. Since Esposito had reminded them about the CCTV camera in the elevator, they had been behaving themselves mostly but Castle was feeling in such a happy mood today that he gently took Kate's hand in his and squeezed it. She turned to look at him and he smiled before letting go of her hand and she smiled back. They were just getting off the elevator when Kate's cell phone rang. Castle groaned at this, technically Kate was on call until three o'clock that day and it was only two thirty now. Kate looked apologetically at him before answering. At the person's voice on the other side of the phone, she grinned at Castle.

"Hey Lanie, yeah we were just leaving." Kate said as she started walking to the parking lot again with Castle in tow.

"_You're leaving early?_" Lanie asked, amusement in her tone, "_Did the Captain make you or something?"_ she teased.

"No, I just have a lot to do at home that's all." Kate said whilst she wondered just when she had started thinking about Castle's loft as home but shrugged this off.

"_Uh huh,"_ came the sardonic response, _"Well I was just calling to ask if you needed some help tonight, I know cooking Christmas dinner for nine people has got a lot of work involved."_

"Yeah that'd be great," Kate smiled, "Why don't you bring Esposito and asked Ryan and Jenny too and we'll make a gathering out of it."

"_You're on!" _Lanie replied, "_About sevenish ok?"_ she asked.

"Yeah that's fine, we'll see you then." Kate confirmed and they both said their goodbyes.

"So we're having company tonight?" Castle asked. Kate quickly turned to face him as they reached her car.

"You don't mind do you?" she asked, "I completely forgot to check if you and Lex have special things planned for Christmas."

"Not really, Christmas Eve is just usually Christmas movie night but we can do that with the guys too." He grinned widely at her and noticed that she still looked anxious, "Hey Kate, you don't have to check with me, you can invite anyone you want over to the loft, but I love that you think of Alexis in these things."

"Thanks, Rick." She grinned at him and he smiled back.

"You have no idea how much I want to kiss you right now." He said quietly.

Kate nodded and got into the car, watching as Castle followed suit. "Well we best get home then." She said calmly as she started the engine.

A.N. Please review guys and tell me what you think.


	2. Chapter 2

A.N. I'm so glad you guys like this :) here's the next part.

Chapter Two – Twas the Night Before Christmas.

When they reached Castle's apartment, Callum was sitting at his desk and he grinned as they walked in. "Mr. Castle, Detective Beckett," he greeted, "You two have finished early today."

"Finished all my paperwork, Callum, figured if there's a day to finish early it's Christmas eve." Kate smiled at him. "What time do you finish today?" she asked.

"Door man service finishes today at five and then starts again the 26th at midday." He told them, obviously looking forward to his finish time.

"Well have a good Christmas." Castle told him, smiling.

"Yes, don't have too many beers." Kate warned laughing. Callum laughed too and returned the sentiment before Kate and Castle made their way up to the loft. As they walked through the door, they saw Alexis in the living room. She was on her cell phone and she smiled and waved as they shut the door behind them and started to take off their coats.

"Yes Mom, I'll see you soon." Alexis said as she started to walk over to them, "Merry Christmas!" she said as she hung up the phone.

"Hey pumpkin," Castle greeted, "What did your Mom want?" he asked as he took Kate's coat with his and hung them both up.

"She just wanted to apologise for not being able to make it this Christmas and that she'd try to make it for New Year," Alexis told them, "And to tell me she's put some money into my account for my present."

"That's original." Castle muttered, causing Kate to glare at him before turning to face Alexis.

"Maybe she'll be able to take you shopping next time she's here so you can show her what you get with the money." She offered.

"Yeah I haven't seen her in a while, that might be a good idea."

"So Lex are you at home with us tonight?" Kate asked as she walked into the kitchen with the girl in tow.

"Yup," Alexis grinned, "Christmas eve is movie night, right Dad?" she looked at Castle who smiled back.

"I hope you don't mind but the guys are coming over tonight, you don't mind if they crash your movie night, do you?" Kate asked.

"Are you kidding me?" Alexis started, "That's great!" she continued, causing relief to flood through Kate, "Detective Ryan is always great to discuss movies with." She said before she started to list the movies that might be a good idea that night. Kate looked up at Castle with a grin on her face but the grin slipped into a tender smile as she saw how he was looking at her and Alexis. She mouthed 'I love you' to him before turning back to the pile of Christmas DVD's that was appearing in front of Alexis.

It didn't take long for Alexis and Kate to remember that they had to start preparing the food for Christmas dinner the next day. They pulled out all the veggies and potatoes and started peeling them, making sure Castle was doing his fair share. Kate had remembered to pull the turkey out of the freezer that morning so they were well on their way to being prepared when the doorbell rang just before seven. Kate picked up a kitchen towel to dry her hands as she walked over to the door.

"Hey guys," she greeted as she opened the door. "Come on in."

She stepped back to allow them all through the front door. Ryan and Esposito were instantly kidnapped by Castle.

"Be right back ladies." He called over his shoulder, before pausing and turning around briefly to say, "Looking good by the way!" with a wink and quickly pushed the boys into his office with them both complaining the whole way about being prodded.

Lanie and Jenny looked at Kate, "What was that all about?" Lanie asked as they walked into the kitchen, handing Kate the bottles of wine they had brought with them.

"It's Castle," Kate shrugged, "Who knows." She put the wine in the fridge to chill and turned around to watch the women greeting Alexis. Alexis smiled to herself; she thought she knew what her Dad was up to.

A.N. Sorry guys I know this chapter is shortish but it really was the organic place to stop before the next bit :) hope you enjoyed anyways :)


	3. Chapter 3

A.N. There are plans afoot ;)

Chapter Three – Movies and Pictures.

"Ok girl when I tell you were coming over to help you prepare, that doesn't mean that you make sure it's all done before we get here." Lanie frowned as she looked at all the pots and pans full of freshly chopped veggies and the turkey already half defrosted on the draining board.

"I had Lex," Kate smiled as she put her arm around the younger girl and pulled her into a side hug. "Castle was more of a hindrance but we managed despite him." They all laughed and Kate pulled out three wine glasses, "Do you want something to drink Lex?" she asked as she reached into the fridge for a bottle of wine Castle had opened earlier, "There's still some of that soda you like."

"That's ok, I've still got some left." She replied, pointing to her glass on the side.

"I can't believe how much food you guys have prepared." Jenny said as she took the glass of wine Kate offered her.

"Well it's not Christmas unless you overstuff yourself," came Castle's voice as the boys rejoined them. Kate knew Castle wanted her to ask what them disappearing was all about so she purposefully ignored it and turned to Ryan and Esposito.

"What do you guys want to drink?" she asked.

"Beer, please." Ryan replied as he walked over to Jenny and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Yeah, me too, thanks Beckett." Esposito said.

"What about me?" Castle asked with a pout.

"You know where they are," Kate said as she handed a glass of wine to Lanie, "Get Ryan and Esposito's whilst you're there." She smirked.

"Well, I walked right into that one didn't I?" he asked the room at large before turning back to Beckett, "Only for you my dearest!" he dramatically exclaimed, causing Kate to roll her eyes and Alexis to giggle into her soda. Kate wasn't a very tactile person in front of people from the precinct but she was very affectionate to her Dad mostly when she thought people weren't looking.

"So which movies did you decide on Lex?" Kate asked as she turned to face her, ignoring the smirks from her colleagues over Castle's behaviour.

"I've got a few, I so couldn't decide." Alexis said as they all made their way into the living room. "There's the classic's like 'It's a Wonderful life', 'A Miracle on 34th Street' and The Santa Claus' Movie but then there's great Christmas movies like 'The Grinch' with Jim Carey and 'The Santa Clause' with Tim Allen. I've got loads and I can't decide. So I've written down all the movies on bits of paper and we'll pull them out of the hat." She grinned as she pointed at the top hat on the centre of the table.

"Hey that's so cool," Ryan said, "You've got an actual top hat too."

"It's from when Dad was trying to be a magician when I was little," Alexis told them to a round of laughter, "It didn't last long." She smiled. She picked up the hat and placed it in front of Kate. "Pick a film Kate."

Kate picked out 'The Grinch' and everyone sat down to watch it. By this time Castle had brought in the drinks for the boys along with two big bowls of popcorn, so he sat down on the chaise lounge part of the sofa and pulled Kate next to him. Lanie sat on the other end of the sofa with Esposito on the floor, leaning back against the sofa next to her legs. Ryan and Jenny sat on the large armchair that was almost a two-seater sofa and Alexis sat down on the comfy large pillow on the floor she had brought down from her room. 'The Grinch' passed with a lot of laughter and commentary between Alexis, Ryan and Castle, not to mention Castle and Alexis' spirited random quoting of their favourite Grinch speeches. The next film was chosen by Lanie and this time it was 'Miracle on 34th Street'. By the end of this film every was feeling pleasantly sleepy so they agreed to one last film before they headed home and Jenny picked 'It's a Wonderful Life'.

Half way through the film, Kate and Castle both dozed off, snuggling closer together almost instinctively as Kate entangled her legs with Castle's as they were stuck out on the chaise lounge and wrapped an arm around his waist whilst Castle wrapped his arm around her waist to keep her close. Not long after they had drifted off, Lanie happened to glance in their direction and she instantly smiled. She nudged Esposito with her foot and gestured for him to look at them. He grinned and pulled out his phone and took a picture, they didn't even stir as the flash went off but Jenny, Ryan and Alexis all looked around, their own faces splitting into grins at the sight.

"Hey Ryan, you still have that tripped out printer right?" Esposito said quietly.

"Yeah." He replied.

"Cool," Esposito said as he started pushing the on screen buttons. A few seconds later he smiled. "I just emailed that to you, make sure to print it off and bring it with you tomorrow."

Not long after this, just before the end of the movie, Kate woke up suddenly as there was a bang in the movie. She sat up, despite Castle's attempts to keep her next to him and yawned before looking around the room. Everyone seemed to be engrossed in the movie so she stood up and walked into the kitchen for a quick glass of water. By the time she came back, the movie was ending and everyone was standing up and yawning too. They all said their goodbyes and see you tomorrows before leaving Kate, Castle and Alexis. Alexis yawned again and looked at her watch.

"Night Dad," she said and stepped forward to give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek and then moved to Kate and repeated the gesture, "Night Kate."

Kate and Castle both said goodnight to Alexis before moving all the glasses and bottles from the living room and putting them in the bin or dishwasher along with the popcorn bowls. Kate switched the dishwasher on and then they made their way up to bed. As they settled down, Rick smiled at Kate.

"I don't know how I got so lucky." He said.

"I must have done something really bad in a past life." She grinned and kissed him softly, taking any sting out of her response. "I love you." She whispered, as if sharing a secret.

"I love you too." He whispered back, retuning her kiss eagerly.

A.N. Please review guys :)


	4. Chapter 4

A.N. Sorry I didn't post yesterday guys, I got held up so I'm posting a little earlier today :)

Chapter Four – My gift to you

The next morning, Castle woke up first for one of the first times since they had been sharing his bed. He looked down at Kate's sleeping face and noted, not for the first time, that he loved the rare occasion he did manage to wake up first just because he got to see her looking so peaceful and not like she had the whole weight of the world on her shoulders. He hoped she wouldn't shoot him over her present. It wasn't like she didn't know it was coming. She started stirring as he thought this and couldn't help the smile that spread across his face as rubbed the side of her face against his chest and blearily opened her eyes. She returned his smile as she looked at him.

"Morning," she yawned widely before leaning up to kiss him.

"Happy Christmas." He said back, watching as he saw the realisation set in that it was in fact Christmas day.

"What time is it?" she asked with a sudden panic. "I have to put the turkey in!"

"Relax Kate, it's only just gone seven and we're not serving it until 3pm so we have plenty of time." Rick said calmly and pulled her back to lie down with him, "Relax." He soothed. They lay there for a few minutes until Rick couldn't contain himself. "Do you want your present now?" he asked, with a little whine in his tone that mimicked a five year old.

Kate smiled and sat up, "Yes," she said, "Let me give you yours too."

Kate reached over to the drawer on her side of the bed whilst Rick did the same on his side. They both pulled out square boxes, about 10 cm square and Rick leaned forward to Kate and kissed her softly as he handed her his gift. "Happy Christmas." He smiled. Kate opened the box and inside was a car key.

"Rick ..." Kate started to say.

"Now here me out Kate," Rick interrupted, before Kate could protest, "Your car, other than having dodgy seats, is probably gonna fail its service next time, I think that thing is older than Alexis! And this has loads of gadgets like sat nav and seat warmers and automatic defrosting windows, I know how you hate defrosting your windows so I figured it's a Christmas present and ..." Rick rambled as Kate watched on, very amused.

She put her hand on his cheek and pulled him into a kiss which Rick enthusiastically returned. "I'm not mad Rick, in fact I love it, thank you." She told him as Rick smiled at her. "But you didn't get Writer airbrushed across the back though did you?"

"No," he grinned, "I was very tempted but figured this is your car so needs a serious Police presence." He said in a mock serious tone, Kate rolled her eyes at that but kissed him again before she pressed her gift into his hands. He eagerly tore the paper from the box, like a five year old would have done and grinned when he saw what it was. Kate had brought him a new watch.

"I know you have a watch that you brought yourself but I thought you'd like this one and I had it engraved." Kate told him. He lifted the Breil watch from its case and turned the blue and black dial over to see the words engraved there. '_My Past, My Present, My Future, Love Kate'_. He grinned as he read this and looked up at Kate who was playing nervously with her new car key. "Your dedication meant so much to me so I wanted you to have one of your own." What wasn't said but was more than understood was the fact the Rick's books had given Kate comfort in a time when she needed it most and they were now happily in a relationship so these private few words between the two of them made them both very happy.

Rick put the watch on and smiled as he pulled Kate into a tight hug. "I love it especially the engraving," he whispered against her hair, "Thank you." They stayed like that for a while, just enjoying being together until Kate decided she really had to start getting ready so she had a quick shower and went downstairs to put the turkey in the oven. Rick waited until Kate had gone downstairs before he too had a shower. When he came back into the bedroom, he quickly got dressed and he sat on the bed before taking the watch off to look at the engraving again. A slow smile spread over his face as he reread it again and again, before putting it back on and reaching back into his bedside drawer to pull out the box with Kate's second present in it. He smiled down at it. He really hoped she liked this present too. He put it in his jeans pocket and walked out of his room and towards Alexis' bedroom. He knocked on the door but there was no answer so he opened it slightly and called her name. Still no answer so he opened the door fully to find the room empty. It was then he heard the laughter coming from downstairs. It sounded like his daughter was helping Kate in the kitchen.

In the kitchen, Kate was making breakfast for the family whilst she was happily talking to Alexis about the coming day. They were laughing over Alexis' description over how her Dad had one year decided to fry a turkey and had no eyebrows for several weeks after. Alexis even had a picture she showed Kate and Kate begged her to let her pin it up on the board in the break room at the precinct but Alexis wasn't that cruel to her Father.

"What time is your Dad getting here?" Alexis asked as she sat at the breakfast bar watching Kate finish up with the bacon and the eggs and start to plate them.

"He said about one o'clock." Kate smiled nervously at Alexis.

"You're not nervous about him meeting my Dad, are you?" Alexis asked ever the intuitive one.

"Let's just say my Dad has never really liked any of my boyfriends before and I really want him to like your Dad." Kate told her. Alexis thought about that for a few seconds.

"Did he like Detective Demming?" Alexis asked, curiously.

"Honestly I never got my Dad to meet Tom, if I'm honest I only introduce the guys I'm really serious about to my Dad and it's usually after we've been dating a while," Kate picked up Alexis' plate of breakfast and placed it in front of her with a knife and fork, "Your Dad will be the first guy I've introduced to him before we've been together for more than six months."

"I must be special then." Castle grinned as he walked into the kitchen.

Kate rolled her eyes and passed him his plate of breakfast. "Here, eat this and be quiet."

"Ooh bacon!" he exclaimed excitedly as he took his plate, he looked up at Kate and winked, "Is there no coffee to go with this?" he asked, innocently. Kate threw the kitchen towel at him.

"What am I? Your servant?" she asked, "You know where the coffee machine is." She laughed. Castle's grin widened and he put his plate down on the mat before kissing his daughter head.

"Good Morning daughter, Happy Christmas!" he said as he started to walk around the kitchen island. When he reached Kate, he pulled her into a soft kiss, "Thanks for breakfast Kate."

"You welcome." She smiled back and watched as he walked over to the coffee machine.

"Right who wants coffee?" he asked, slapping his hands together in glee.

A.N. Ok guys I hope you're all still alive and that I didn't kill you all with the fluffiness lmao but I really wanted Kate to give Rick something to show she was all in like he did and the watch just came to me, please review :)


	5. Chapter 5

A.N. So here's the next chapter with none of the secret being revealed yet though ;)

Chapter Five – Daddy's Home

It was long before they had exchange gifts between the three of them, Alexis particularly happy with her present from her Dad and Kate. She had been taking photography classes at school and loved it but she had been using one of the schools old camera's so Rick had wanted to buy her one. In typical Castle fashion he had wanted to buy her the most expensive dSLR there was but Kate had reminded him that Alexis' favourite type were Sony Ericsson Alpha series so he had got her one of those along with several different types of lenses and all the other equipment that came with camera's.

Around noon there was a knock at the door and it opened before anyone had a chance to move. Martha came strolling inside singing 'We wish you a merry Christmas' at the top of her lungs and she turned to smile at the three people sitting in the living room.

"Merry Christmas my wonderful family!" she exclaimed and rushed forward to hug Alexis who had already started walking towards her.

"Grams!" she grinned, "Happy Christmas." As they pulled away from each other Castle and Kate walked towards her as well.

"Richard darling," she greeted and kissed her son on the cheek before turning to Kate, "Has he been behaving himself today?" she asked as she gave her a hug as well.

"No worse than usual." Kate grinned, "Merry Christmas Martha."

"Here Mother," Castle said as he handed her a coffee.

"Thank you Richard darling," she said as she took the coffee and took a grateful sip.

"Out late last night Mother?" he questioned with a smirk.

"Not at all, I had a few quiet drinks with the rest of the cast and went home I'll have you know," she playfully hit her son on his arm and turned to Alexis. "Now sweetie, what's with that camera you have around your neck?" she smiled at her granddaughter and they walked into the living room whilst Alexis started telling her Grams just how her new camera worked and all the new exciting types of pictures she could now take. By the time one o'clock rolled around, they had all finished sharing gifts with Martha and she and Alexis were happily watching the Santa Claus movie. Kate and Castle were both glancing at the clock every few seconds. They were sat together on the sofa, Kate was nervously anticipating her Father's arrival because it would mean him and Castle finally meeting and Castle was also nervous to meet Kate's Dad. When Kate was nervous she always sought comfort and recently any kind of comfort came most easily from contact with Castle so she had reached over and took his hand in hers, breathing easier when he pulled her closer to his side. They had just made themselves comfortable when there was a knock at the door. Kate and Castle looked quickly at each other before Kate got up and walked quickly to the door. She paused, very briefly before opening the door to her Dad.

"Hi Dad," she grinned at him, her nervousness leaving her for a moment to make way for her joy at seeing her Dad, "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas Katie." Her Dad smiled back and pulled her into a hug. After a few seconds they pulled apart and Kate gestured for him to come inside and she closed the door. She took her Dad's coat and turned to see Castle stood, uncertainly a few feet away. It seemed he had followed her half way to the door and left some space for her to greet her Dad. She smiled at him and he nervously returned the smile.

"Dad, this is Rick Castle." She smiled as she gestured at Castle. He smiled fully and stepped forward to shake Jim's hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Sir." Castle said as Kate walked over to stand next to him and turn towards her Dad. Jim wasn't a daft man, especially when it came to his daughter. He knew that she quite reserved with her physical contact with people when others were around especially those whom she dated because she was a strong woman who wanted to be viewed as her own person but the way that she stood next to Richard Castle, almost protectively and definitely closer than usual told him a lot of what he wanted to know from this visit. His daughter finally knew what real love was and from the way he wrapped his arm around his daughter's shoulders and she melted into his embrace, he felt the same way.

"You too." He grinned, "Now, do I have to call you Castle too or can I call you Rick?" he grinned and Castle instantly felt more at ease.

"Please call me Rick." He told him.

"Then you'll call me Jim." Castle's face split into and grin and Kate rolled her eyes at this.

"Do you want a drink Dad?" she asked.

"I'm ok for now Katie." He smiled.

"Ok come on in to the living room." Kate said as she hung her Dad's coat up and they walked into the living room where Martha and Alexis stood to greet their new guest. "Dad this is Martha, Rick's Mom and his daughter, Alexis." She told her Father before turning to the two other women, "This is my Dad, Jim Beckett."

"It's such a delight to meet you Jim." Martha smiled as she walked over to shake his hand.

"Nice to meet you Mr Beckett." Alexis waved from where she stood.

After a few minutes of Jim trying to convince Alexis to call him Jim rather than Mr Beckett, the doorbell went again and this time it was everyone from the 12th. After all the introductions had been done they all sat down to continue watching the movie whilst Kate, Lanie and Jenny disappeared into the kitchen to start the final preparation for dinner and Martha and Alexis followed to continue their gossiping. Rick looked after Kate and turned to Jim, Esposito and Ryan.

"Guys, can I just talk to you all in my office?" he asked quietly. Jim looked confused but Esposito and Ryan both broke out into identical grins and nodded. They all quickly walked into the office and closed the door so the girls wouldn't hear what was about to be discussed

A.N. Sorry it's a slight cliffy but I should have the next chapter up by midnight tomorrow :) please review though because I have a lot of writing to do ;)


	6. Chapter 6

A.N. Ok so this chapter just didn't seem to want to be written in the way I had planned and I'm not entirely happy with it but if I mess around with it anymore my head will explode ;) so here it is, hopefully the next chapter will be better.

Chapter Six - Questions

As Rick shut the door and turned to face the three men in front of him, he tried to smile but it came across as more of a grimace.

"Come on Caste!" Ryan exclaimed, after a few seconds of silence, "It's not that hard." He smirked. Castle glared at him before turning to Jim.

"I wanted to ask you a question, I asked these guys yesterday and Captain Montgomery a few days ago because their opinion matters as well and I need to get Lanie's opinion but yours is the one that matters most." As Castle spoke his memory drifted to the day before when they had last seen Captain Montgomery before he had left on his vacation.

_Castle watched as Kate walked over to the break room and started chatting with Karpowski. Now was his chance. He walked over to the Captain's office and knocked on the door with a furtive glance over his shoulder to check Kate was still occupied. As soon as he heard the Captain's voice saying "Enter" he quickly opened the door and walked inside, closing it softly. He turned to face Captain Montgomery, suddenly indecisive about his task._

"_Can I help you Castle?" Captain Montgomery asked, a little amused at the look on Castle's face._

_Castle took a deep breath before rushing on, "I want to ask you something, not your permission because I really think that Kate would hate the word 'permission' relating to this but more your blessing because she values your opinion and so do I and ..." he rambled._

"_You want to marry Kate." Montgomery said, cutting him off. Castle looked up surprised and sunk into the chair in front of the Captain's desk. They had told the Captain about their relationship about a week after Lanie and the guys had found out but they had been s o careful to avoid mention of it around the precinct to try and keep their relationship private, the fact that the Captain had picked up on his intentions floored him._

"_How did you ..." _

"_Oh come on!" he cut Castle off again, "The way you two are with each other now is enough for anyone with eyes to see how you feel about each other." He paused as he looked closely at Castle, "You're scared she'll say no." He said, it was definitely a statement and not a question._

"_Wouldn't you be?" Castle asked honestly, "She's Kate Beckett, one and done, she said it herself and then there's me with two failed marriages under my belt." He sighed, "I'm worried she'll think I'm not serious about this."_

"_The only advice I can give you here is when you look ten, twenty years into the future, can you see her with you?" he asked._

"_Yes," Castle answered right away, without any hesitation._

_Montgomery smiled, "Then there's your answer and mine, of course you have my blessing."_

"A question?" Jim asked and reminded him strongly of the way Esposito had said the same thing the day before.

"_A question?" Esposito asked and Castle nodded as he looked between the two men._

"_Well you better hurry up then Castle because the longer we're in here, the more suspicious Beckett will become." Ryan warned him._

"_You too are basically Kate's brothers," Castle started, "Aand I asked the Captain and I'll need to ask Mr Beckett tomorrow of course but knowing you guys approve will mean a lot so I guess what I'm asking is if you guys approve of me asking Kate to ... to marry me?"_

_There was a long pause as Esposito and Ryan stared at him until they both broke out into wide grins._

"_Are you serious?" Ryan asked, "That's awesome man!" he said with Esposito nodding in agreement._

"_When are you going to ask her?" Esposito asked._

"_You'll find out tomorrow." Castle grinned._

"Yes Sir," he said, forgoing the use of Jim's name as he settled on a more formal approach. "I love your daughter very much and I don't want to ever be without her, I was hoping you'd give me your blessing to ask her to marry me." He rushed out before he lost his nerve.

Jim surveyed Castle and thought about everything his daughter had told him about this man. She knew that Katie loved him and respected him and he now knew that this man respected her enough to make sure her Dad was happy with this first. It seemed old fashioned to a lot of people these days but he knew it wasn't about the possession that it used to be about but more the simple gesture of respect. He extended his arm out to Castle and shook his hand.

"I couldn't be happier." Jim smiled as almost laughed at the relieved look on Castle's face.

"So you said you'd tell us today when you were going to ask her?" Esposito reminded him.

"Well this is the thing I also wanted you guys opinions on," Rick said, "I know she'll hate a huge big gesture, that she'll just want an honest proposal but I can't decide if proposing in front of all you guys after dinner is what she would like or if she'd prefer a private proposal later."

"You can't?" Ryan grinned knowing that he did know which one she'd prefer but was nervously seeking their opinions so he knew he was right.

Castle smiled. "Yeah you're right, I do know."

"Do you have a ring?" Jim asked, curiously. Castle nodded and pulled the small box from his pocket and opened it to show them all.

Esposito whistled and Ryan said, "Niiiiice."

"She'll love it." Jim told him grinning.

A.N. I hope that wasn't too cheesy lol


	7. Chapter 7

A.N. Please forgive me for no chapter yesterday, it was the last day of my old job and I went to watch the new Harry Potter film before then looking after my nephews today so was really busy but managed to find a little time to write this. It is mainly a filler chapter but I hope you all like it anyways ;)

Chapter Seven – These Moments

After a few more minutes they headed back into the living room. Castle noticed that Lanie was still in the kitchen and figured that this was going to be the best chance he had to talk to Kate's best friend.

"I'm just getting a drink." He called to the rest. They barely acknowledged him as the girls were currently having a spirited rendition of "Picture to Burn" on Band Hero. He laughed as he walked over to Lanie as Kate and Alexis were on the guitar and bass and Martha was on the drums and they were all singing loudly. "Hey." He greeted Lanie as he entered the kitchen.

"Hey Castle, everything ok?" she asked, her eyes twinkling like she knew Castle was up to something particularly special.

"Yes, everything's great." He told her and then he decided a straight up approach would work best with Lanie. "Do you think she'll say yes?" he asked quietly as he discreetly pulled the ring from his pocket again and showed her. Lanie gasped and quickly brought her hands up to cover her mouth but when she brought them back down Castle could see a huge smile on her face.

"Castle, that ring is amazing, that's just her style not too ostentatious but still absolutely gorgeous." She said quietly as she examined the ring and then whispered, "When are you asking her?"

"Tonight," he told her, "I have to do something special ... I'm just not sure what yet but it'll be when we're alone, later."

Lanie looked like she was about to protest and demand a proper answer until she realised he was right. He needed to do this alone and privately ... it was the way Kate would want it. She smiled at him and winked before heading back into the living room to take back the drum set from Martha. Castle watched everyone as they continued playing for a few moment until the song (No Doubts 'Just a Girl') finished and Kate quickly handed the guitar to Martha, who had thought she was safe now that Lanie was back and apologised before saying she need to check on the turkey. She walked into the kitchen and smiled as she saw Castle still stood there.

"Hey you," she greeted and placed her hands on his chest before leaning up to place a quick kiss on his mouth but Castle wrapped his arms around her waist and kept her close to him.

"Hey back," he smiled, "Is everyone having a good time?" he asked as his forehead dropped down to rest on hers. She sighed in contentment as she started to relax under his touch, they both closed their eyes at the closeness and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I think everyone is having a great time," she told him, not opening her eyes, "But I'd be able to get a better idea if you didn't keep disappearing with the guys." She half scolded and half questioned. Castle just smiled and opened his eyes as he kissed her again, this time the kiss was leisurely as they both sank into the feelings the kiss stirred up. After a few seconds, Kate pulled away and dropped her arms so she could break the contact between them. "Save it for later?" she asked. Castle just grinned and grabbed the lager he had pulled on the fridge before joining everyone else in the living room.

Dinner was absolutely fabulous. Alexis was gushing over how well the food was cooked and asking for Kate to teach her how to cook whilst all the men were just piling their plates with food and eating as much as they can. At one point Jenny looked at Ryan who had that much food in his mouth that he looked like a chipmunk and she burst out laughing. It took her a few minutes to calm down enough to explain to everyone what she was thinking and then, of course, all the rest of them also burst out laughing, except Ryan who looked slightly put out at this turn of events.

Once everyone had eaten enough (or too much in practically everyone's case), Castle, Ryan and Esposito all volunteered to do the cleaning whilst the women all watched 'The Night Before Christmas'. After they had filled the dishwasher and left the pans soaking, the men joined them and before long Esposito was clearing his throat.

"We have a last minute present for you two." He smiled at Kate and Castle. Kate was instantly on her guard ... she knew that smile. Ryan grinned and handed them a gift. Castle raised his eyebrow at them but looked to Kate who nodded and looked at the tag, 'To Beckett and Castle, We hope you never lose this feeling, love from Esposito, Lanie, Ryan and Jenny'. Kate raised her eyebrow but allowed Castle to rip off the wrapping paper. As the picture in the frame was revealed, Kate started to blush She realised just how much she must trust the people in this room if she had felt comfortable enough to fall asleep in this position with Castle the night before.

Jim looked at the picture still in Castle's hand and grinned, he had made the right choice after all.

Kate looked up at Ryan and Esposito, who were stood with similar expressions of mischief on their faces, but she wasn't angry, she wasn't even slightly upset that they had taken the picture. She stood up and walked quickly towards them, both of them edging back slightly, a little bit scared she might hit them, but Kate just flung her arms around the two of them in a tight hug. This was just their way of approving of her and Castle and she was so happy that they did.

"Thank you." She whispered. After a few seconds of shocked silence, the two men returned her hug before they all broke apart blushing slightly. After a few uncomfortable coughs, they all grinned at each other and moved to sit down. Alexis had watched this scene, extremely bemused.

"And I thought it was just boys that acted like that," she smirked at Kate, "Maybe it's boys and all cops in general." Before ducking as a cushion flew at her from Kate's direction amidst gales of laughter from Martha and Jenny.

A.N. Like I say mainly filler but I need a talk between Lanie and Castle but knew it would be tiny because Lanie will mainly want to talk to Kate once Castle has actually proposed ... which hopefully will be soon ;) please review.


	8. Chapter 8

A.N. So here it is ... the moment you've all been waiting for lol, I hope you enjoy it. I've tried to make it as realistic for them as I could but have probably disappointed a few people with how I always saw it playing out but I hope you all like it anyways :)

Chapter Eight – The Proposal

The afternoon and evening passed much the same way as the rest of the day had. They had leftover's for a snack later on and had loud boisterous games on the Wii. Most of the time Kate and Alexis teamed up and they made an unbeatable team. Castle watched as they celebrating winning the bowling tournament by Alexis jumping to wrap her arms around Kate and Kate spun her around before they pulled apart and high fived. They grinned widely at each other and Kate happened to glance at Castle as he was watching them. She couldn't place the look on his face but as he walked over to her and hugged her, he whispered "I love you," into her ear and any doubt at how he felt with her interaction with Alexis vanished. It wasn't until Castle released Kate and sat down to watch the next competition (slaloming) that he finally knew exactly how he was going to ask her to marry him. He smiled as he formulated the plan and didn't notice as Lanie sat down next to him.

"Hey writer boy," she nudged him, "You ok?"

"Yeah, I'm great." He grinned at her. He brought his left hand up to scratch his ear and Lanie's eyes followed his wrist.

"Nice watch Castle." She said as she caught his arm to look closer at it. "When did you get this?"

"It was Kate's present for me today." He replied and grinned as he thought about the engraving that was touching his skin at that very moment. Lanie looked at him closely.

"There's more to this present than just a watch isn't there?" she asked.

Castle nodded and replied, "Yes but at the moment it's just between us, I'm sure she'll probably tell you herself at some point though."

Lanie just nodded. She knew how private a person Kate was but to the medical examiner she wasn't all that mysterious. She had probably given him a specific watch that meant something to her or even more likely had it engraved with something similar to the dedication in 'Naked Heat'. She sighed happily. She wanted to know, of course, what exactly was special about the watch but she respected her friend's privacy enough to let it be ... At least for now.

When everyone eventually started leaving, it was about midnight. Ryan and Jenny left first followed by Esposito and Lanie. Jim was offered the guest bedroom and he accepted so after saying goodnight, he went up the stairs at the same time Martha did so she could show him where everything was, as she was staying in her old room that night.

Alexis grinned as she watched her Dad pull Kate in a slow dance to the song that was playing on the credits and decided to go up to bed and leave them to it.

"This has been probably my favourite Christmas ever." Castle smiled as he looked down at Kate who wasn't wearing her heels today and was a few inches shorter. Kate rested her head on his shoulder and smiled as she thought about everything that had happened that day.

"Yeah mine too." She told him as she breathed in Rick's unique scent.

"Are you happy?" Rick asked.

Kate looked up into his eyes and replied, "Yes, very happy."

"I want to ask you something and I hope you'll say yes." Rick started, "I love words and I'm usually a master of them, especially on paper but right now I don't have the perfect words to say to you other than I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy. I want to be with you as we grow old and hopefully have a few more kids as well as Alexis to take care of us in our old age." Kate looked confused as Rick started speaking but at this point her jaw dropped as he sunk to one knee and pulled a box from his pocket. "I really hope you'll make me the happiest guy in the world and say yes to being my wife. Please Kate, will you marry me?" he asked and opened the box to show a simple diamond on a platinum band. The diamond wasn't overly large but was clearly a flawless one.

Kate opened and shut her mouth a few times before looking into Rick's eyes and noticed the sincerity there. She took a deep breath and hoped he would understand why she had to ask what she was about to ask. "Rick, I really do love you but how do I know that you aren't going to get bored of me like your ex-wives?" she asked, a little of her vulnerability showing through.

"I can only say that you are the first person who I have ever seriously thought about growing old with and that I'm wanting to make this work so badly that I've asked for the blessing's of all the closest people in your life. I know that having their opinion matters to you and they've all given their blessings." He paused and grasped her hand to place a kiss on it before continuing, "Please say yes Kate?"

Kate knelt down next to Rick and took both his hands in hers and then she smiled at him. "Yes," she answered, "I would love to be your wife."

Rick couldn't help but grin as he took the ring from the box and slide it onto her finger before kissing her hand. "I love you." He told her.

"I love you too." Kate replied before throwing her arms around his shoulders and kissing him urgently.

Rick broke away after a few moments, completely breathless, "Shall we take this upstairs, Mrs Castle?" he smirked.

"Who says I'll change my name?" she grinned mischievously, but she stood up and raced up the stairs laughing all the way. Rick stood to and chased after her, determined to convince her that changing her name was the best course of action.

A.N. So what do you all think of the proposal?


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